The Silence of Lorna Review

Silence of Lorna, The
An Albanian immigrant plots the accidental overdose of her junkie husband so she can marry a Russian mobster and open the cafe of her dreams.

by David Parkinson |
Published on
Release Date:

28 Nov 2008

Running Time:

105 minutes

Certificate:

TBC

Original Title:

Silence of Lorna, The

Redemption is the perennial theme of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, so it’s inevitable that Albanian emigrée Arta Dobroshi will see the error of her ways when scheming cabby Fabrizio Rongione plots an accidental overdose for her junkie husband so she can marry a Russian mobster. Yet life’s unpredictability still intrudes upon this neo-realist thriller.

With a crisis of conscious clashing with the dawning realisation that she may never open a cherished café, Dobroshi sustains a mix of naive ambition, reluctant complicity and flinty pragmatism as authentic as the soul-destroying Liège settings.

Not the strongest entry in the Dardenne Brothers' canon, but a bleak, punchy drama nonetheless.
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